After reading The Beachcomber article in the Sept. 14 issue about the Vashon Park District (VPD) survey, I find it pathetic, maddening and also very ironic that VPD chose to have an online survey created for a cost of $30,000 (“Islanders urged to take park district survey to gather community input,” Sept. 14). Hasn’t anyone at VPD heard of cheap online survey services like Survey Monkey?

The quote from Elaine Ott says: “Major decisions involving scarce financial resources will be based on the results of this survey.” Doesn’t that just seem a bit hypocritical?

First, after wasting $30,000 on the creation of a 25-question survey, how can there be any credibility in the complaint about not having enough money? It’s like a street corner beggar smoking a cigarette and taking care of a well-fed dog. If he doesn’t have money to eat, how is he able to afford cigarettes and feed a dog?

Secondly, why is VPD asking the public questions about how to manage the financial resources of VPD? That’s the job of the commission. There are a lot more productive things that VPD could have done with $30,000, including deferred maintenance and funding of recreational programs, both mentioned in the article. This expenditure is simply not good stewardship of our property taxes and yet VPD continues to claim that they don’t have enough. If VPD wants people in the community to support their organization, they need to be good stewards with what is already provided.

— Jim Plihal